The amount of paperwork needed in the construction industry is unbelievable. The hours it takes to enter each detail by hand is even worse. Thankfully, there is a way to not only streamline the documentation process but improve your entire workflow. Here are the top four reasons why automating your documentation process can make your business better.
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Save Time
It’s no mystery where hours upon hours of your employee’s workday goes. Entering reams of paperwork by hand takes countless hours away from their overall workflow. They spend valuable time entering details when they could be marketing, talking to potential customers, following up on leads, and innovating new ways to get in front of great prospects. Until now, this has been a given, expected in an industry where paperwork takes up entire rooms for archival purposes. However, this no longer needs to be the norm.
When you automate your documentation process for every step of the way from proposal to contract to project completion, you can save multiple hours each workweek for your employees and your customers. A streamlined process is a win-win for everyone.
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Make Money
When you save time, you’ll naturally save money. But more than just looking at what you will save with increased time, you should focus on how you can convert that time into make money. The hours saved for each employee that no longer has to hand enter information can be spent in following up with leads, marketing, reaching out to customers, and making sales.
The more your employees can be engaged in sales and marketing, the more money your company will be able to make. If you save a minimum of three hours per week, that’s three more hours that can be spent attracting customers, working on marketing and landing contracts. The more deals you land each week, the more work you’ll have, the more your company will grow. It will also make your information much easier to access and find, and increase your sales conversion rate to boot (especially when creating a solid sales process; more on that in future articles).
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Save Space
The amount of space required to house archived documents is a continual source of frustration for many construction companies. Not just physical space, but costly digital space, either on a server in your office or out on the cloud. If you have a large enough company or have been in business for enough years, you might be required to rent a storage facility for the sole purpose of storing archived documents.
This is a huge money waster, and it forces your company to stay tied down to one location. By automating your reports and placing them in the cloud, however, you not only free up the money you’d be spending on storage, but you instantly improve the mobility of your company. When documents are cloud-based, you are free to pick up and go where you desire, without the worry of carting your warehouse of archived documents with you.
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Improve Accuracy
This is a big deal when it comes to documentation of proposals, contracts, and job specifications. Hand keying documents leave you open to human error. Even the most fastidious of employees are prone to making a mistake. While many mistakes can be corrected, if wrong numbers and figures are recorded for job orders, mistakes will cost you in time and money.
Customers want to know their home or project is in good hands, and errors in communication or contracts don’t do much to improve their confidence level. When documents are scanned and uploaded, they require only a visual check for confirmation that the software accurately scanned them in. Less hand-entering means less opportunity for error. Not only will you improve accuracy, but you can improve your entire customer experience, as well. Streamlining the process will inspire confidence in how you handle their information and the job they are hiring you to perform.
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